Britain’s Emma Raducanu battled late into the night on Wednesday, but could not find a way past World No 4 Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itaú, while earlier in the day, 19-year-old wild-card Alexandra Eala stunned Iga Swiatek.
Well, for sure, I don’t want to think about it too long. It’s nice to learn from losses, but yeah, there are other things ahead, and I’m happy that we’re going to play on clay. I don’t know how it’s going to look like this year, but, for sure, I’ll work hard to be ready for the first tournaments on clay.
Iga Swiatek
Despite needing medical treatment, the 22-year-old Brit levelled the match at a set all, before the American regained control, and rode out the match to win, 6-4 6-7(3) 6-2, after 2 hours and 25 minutes of intense play.
“It was tough. I played a good first set, a little let-down in the second, got it back, went up 2-0 in the tiebreak, but then it, kind of, flipped,” Pegula assessed afterwards. “She started moving the ball really well, serving good… sometimes it just happens, but I just wanted to come out in the third really strong, really quick, and just, kind of, jump on her, and not keep the third set too close.”
“I love playing here, I love playing at home, I love getting wins in the Dolphins stadium. I always play really well here, and I’m hoping the third time’s the charm. I want to make it to that final so bad, and I’ll give it another shot tomorrow night.”
Pegula has not won a set in either of her two previous Miami semi-finals, beaten in 2022 in straight sets by Swiatek as the No 16 seed, and, a year later, upset in a tight two-setter by then-No 10 seed Elena Rybakina when the American was seeded 3.
This time round she meets a Filipina wild-card, 19-year-old Alexandra Eala, who topped an already sensational run here with a 6-2 7-5 upset win over Swiatek, the World No 2, on Wednesday afternoon.
While Pegula is the favourite on paper against Eala, ranked 140, she will not underestimate what the teenager brings to the table after upsetting 3 Grand Slam winners so far – Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and, lastly, Swiatek – to reach her first career tour-level semi-final.
Emma Raducanu was leading in the second set when she felt dizzy and was treated by Kelsey Fitzgerald, a WTA trainer, and a doctor during a medical time-out.
© Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Raducanu, who rises 12 spots to No 48 in the live rankings, suggested after the match that the humidity may have been to blame for her requiring medical treatment late in the second set after she felt dizzy.
The 22-year-old had her blood pressure taken, and was given ice towels to cool down on court by a trainer with a doctor present, before showing tremendous heart to force a deciding set by claiming the ensuing tiebreak.
She was playing some of her best tennis since becoming a teenage Grand Slam champion at the 2021 US Open, and held a 5-2 lead in the second set.
She held 4 set points in the 8th game on Pegula’s serve, before calling the medical time-out, and, on resumption, showed fortitude and fight to impressively take the set to level proceedings.
The British No 2 could not see the job through, though, as 31-year-old Pegula demonstrated why she is one of the most consistent competitors on the WTA Tour.
Jessica Pegula proved too consistent for Emma Raducanu in the final set on Wednesday night in Miami, and advanced to the semi-finals for a 3rd time.
© Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Raducanu decided to abandon a trial partnership with Slovak coach Vladimir Platenik coming into the tournament, and asked for guidance from some familiar faces instead, Mark Petchey, a well-known figure in British tennis who coached the Brit in her teenage years, who joined her long-time confidante Jane O’Donoghue and fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura on the team.
The set-up has allowed Raducanu to be “authentic” and “express” herself on court, and it showed against Pegula with her clean ball-striking and sharp movement.
Pegula’s solid groundstrokes offered few errors and a single break was enough for Raducanu to lose the opening set.
Adopting a more aggressive approach in the second paid dividends, as the Brit dominated the American, quickly getting her reward with an early break as the momentum shifted.
When Raducanu could not level with the double break, amid complaining of dizziness, it felt as if she was there for the taking when she returned from the medical time-out, but she showed remarkable mental toughness to hold serve for 6-5, managing to step up her level again in a superb tiebreak.
Pegula failed to close out the match in two sets after her admirable fight back in the second, saving the 4 set points and pulling the 2-5 deficit into a tiebreak.
An early break of serve for the American in the decider made the difference for a lead that she never relinquished.
Pegula and Raducanu had traded blows evenly throughout the match, the American firing 6 aces amongst her 48 winners, to just 27 unforced errors, while Raducanu hit 30 winners, including 3 aces, offsetting her 18 miscues.
The difference came on break point efficiency, as Pegula converted 4 of her 9 opportunities, and saved 5 of the 6 that she faced.
19-year-old Alexandra Eala added the scalp of Iga Swiatek to her growing list of Grand Slam champions that she has beaten at the Miami Open to reach her first career semi-final on the WTA Tour.
© Al Bello/Getty Images
Pegula’s next hurdle is Eala, who continued her remarkable run by causing a seismic shock against 5-time major champion Swiatek earlier on Wednesday.
The teenage wild-card turned in the most remarkable performance so far in her history-making break-out run at the Miami Open, overturning a 2-4 deficit in the second set to oust the World No 2 after an hour and 39 minutes.
“I’m in complete disbelief right now, I’m on cloud nine,” a breathless Eala said in her on-court interview.
Presented with a photo of her graduation from the Rafael Nadal Academy less than 2 years ago, with Swiatek by her side, Eala’s state of shock only grew.
“It’s so surreal,” she said. “I feel like I’m the exact same person as I was in that photo. But of course, circumstances have changed!
“I’m so happy and so blessed to be able to compete with such a player on this stage.
“My coach told me to run, to go for every ball, to take all the opportunities I can, because a five-time Slam champion is not going to give you the win.”
The tone of the match was set in a bruising opening stretch, in which the first 4 games took over 25 minutes and all going to at least one deuce.
In fact, 5 of the first 6 games of the match were service breaks, and it became clear that Eala has the game to go toe-to-toe with the best, while she can keep her head even when coming out on the wrong side of long deuce tussles, and when her lead was pegged back.
When Swiatek swatted a backhand winner to break back for 3-2, she seemed to have wrested the momentum, but Eala responded by running off 8 straight points and 5 consecutive games to lead 2-0 in the second set.
Eala’s left-handed forehand produced some breathtaking winners, and garnered her 3 in one game to break for 3-1 in the first set, but the youngster was also able to mix the play up with her backhand, and a cheeky drop-shot on her way to closing it out as Swiatek was repeatedly left flat-footed.
The relentless aggression of Eala’s returning, frequently from well inside the baseline, also paid off.
The Filipina won more second-serve points, 50%, than Swiatek won first-serve points, 47%, while the Pole won just 2 points behind her second delivery all day.
Iga Swiatek (L) was surprised by Alexandra Eala’s aggression and focus, and failed to take her chances in the second set.
© Al Bello/Getty Images
“She went all in,” Swiatek told the media later. “She made these returns in, and pretty long, and so it wasn’t easy to hit it back. She was pretty loosened up and just went for it.”
At 2-0 in the second set, Eala double-faulted, prompting Swiatek to pull off her best shot of the day, a forehand sizzler cross-court.
The 23-year-old Pole held for the first time in the next game, before the 2022 champion ran off 4 straight games of her own to lead 4-2, but she was unable to sustain that form.
Having tallied 19 unforced errors in the first set, Swiatek contributed a further 13 in the second, but whereas Eala’s consistency and depth had played a role in eliciting those mistakes early on, the back half of the second set saw rallies become shorter and more ragged.
Swiatek also failed to serve the set out at 5-4, and collapsed in the final game of the match with a trio of wild forehand errors.
On Eala’s 1st match point, the Filipina pummelled another deep return to force Swiatek’s backhand over the baseline, and the teenager froze in disbelief at her accomplishment.
Later, Swiatek insisted her performance was not affected by what has been described as a “disturbing incident” while she was practising.
A spectator was reported for threatening behaviour towards the World No 2 in an incident that allegedly took place last week.
Swiatek’s team immediately informed tournament organisers and WTA Tour officials, and additional security was immediately provided to the Pole.
This is the second time that a player has been given extra security in recent weeks, with Raducanu also afforded additional support after she was approached by a man displaying “fixated behaviour” in Dubai.
“Security is a top priority,” said a Swiatek spokesperson. “We monitor the network to catch these types of issues. Constructive criticism is one thing and threats, hate speech or even disturbance during training is another – this cannot be condoned.
“We reported the matter to the tournament organiser, as well as to the WTA, which reacted immediately and took additional precautions, such as additional security, for which we are very grateful.
“Ensuring the safety of the players is crucial. They are the ones at the centre of the event and it is our job to protect them.”
News of the incident came after Swiatek suffered her shock loss to Eala, and she was reluctant to elaborate, insisting it was not a factor in her defeat.
“I didn’t know she was going to play that flat, but, besides that, well, she was really aggressive, and she kept her focus,” said Swiatek. “Some of these shots were pretty, like, out of nowhere. But still, you know, I could see clearly she has intentions to go forward, and to push. So it worked for her today, for sure.
“I think she just returned well. Yeah, I wasn’t ready for the next ball. For sure I made too many mistakes. Well, for sure, I don’t want to think about it too long. It’s nice to learn from losses, but yeah, there are other things ahead, and I’m happy that we’re going to play on clay.”
“I don’t know how it’s going to look like this year, but, for sure, I’ll work hard to be ready for the first tournaments on clay.”
Meanwhile, Eala, who is the first player from the Philippines to reach a tour-level semi-final, and is now guaranteed to become the first Filipina to be ranked inside the Top 100 on Monday, must focus her sights on Pegula on Thursday for a place in the final.
